Well, Hello 2011!

Whew. I'm happy to say the Holidays are over! Yes, I know this is the best selling time for people like me but I think I always forget that it ends up being all work and no holiday playtime! I did take a bit of a break the week before and after Christmas to do my own thing, drink lots of mexican hot chocolate, have a social life and work on things that I've been wanting to for a while - such as hang up some branches in my kitchen. It was all very nice :)

(The kitchen set up for a New Years dinner.)


Looking back on 2010, I can say that this past year was so good to me and my little business.  I love how organic it's all been so far.....just taking things as they come and seeing what feels good or not. I'm not one of those people who plans out the next 5 years in advance nor do I have any crazy goals. I just want to create work that makes me happy, pay my bills, go traveling and hope that in between others will love my work too. On that note, this past year has had some crazy highlights for me, like getting my work into the MOMA Shop and several other museum stores (Ok, I'm getting that my work does well in museum shops!), being interviewed by some local magazines and not so local, I've taught 3 felting workshops, my work was published in a cool book, I was on tv (by far the craziest thing ever) and I came out with some new pieces.

As tradition, this is the week where I look back on my year and write out my goals for the upcoming year for all to see. Putting it out in the blogosphere helps me feel more accountable and I think that throwing my intentions out into the universe can't hurt either. Before starting this post, I read back to my New Years post from 2010 to see if I made some progress from my last years goals. I think I did pretty good.....3 out of the 5.

-I found some great help from two gals who do a great job crocheting. And they happen to be the sweetest things too which really is the icing on the cake!

-I've really improved my time management and I find that I can get more into a rhythm easier han I used to. Those blogs still beckon but I tell them to just wait their turn dammit! And learning how to say no in general has been a lifesaver yet still a really hard thing for me to do.

-Working on wholesaling with stores and keeping up the relationship. This is still a tricky one and it's something I'm revamping and adding to my current resolutions.

-My pillows....oy, my pillows. It didn't happen last year but I'm very optimistic for this year. There's a little something in the works with a beautiful store that may be carrying my pillows. And this makes me very happy :)

Goals for 2011:

• Join a business group that meets monthly
• Change my website to a gallery site that will link to a shopping cart such as Big Cartel
• Create a smaller wholesale line
• Make smaller, limited edition pieces in my shop
• Carry my pillows exclusively through one or two select shops (for now)
• Saying no is OK! (to friends, other vendors etc)
• Teach more felting workshops
• Find an intern?

This is PLENTY to start the year off with!

Hoping that this post finds you and yours happy and healthy. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!